State employee unions struggle to maintain clout

Brian Lockhart, Staff Writer

Updated 10:10 pm, Sunday, September 4, 2011

When John McCarthy left the private sector for a job as a legislative liaison with the state Department of Labor, his colleagues did not try to conceal their opinions of public employees and their unions.

"They said, `It's a contradiction in terms. Nobody works for the state,' " McCarthy recalled.

That was in 1979.

Criticizing government workers is nothing new, and in 2011 Republican governors from Wisconsin, New Jersey and elsewhere took renewed pride in going to war with organized public-sector labor in the name of fiscal responsibility.

As Labor Day approaches, McCarthy, now an aide to state House Democrats, and several other observers agree this has also been a tense year of transition for government unions in blue Connecticut.

Democrats Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano, some of labor's staunchest political allies, demanded millions -- or in the state's case -- hundreds of millions of dollars in concessions.

And state Senate Democrats made the unprecedented move of trying to legislate limits on some collectively bargained salary and pension benefits after employees initially rebuffed $1.6 billion in givebacks.

"It's a changing paradigm for public-sector unions," said ex-GOP Chairman and lobbyist Chris DePino. "It's a new day."

Jim Finley, head of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, said, "We're seeing a new age of labor management relations in the public sector that's been forced on both sides because of the stark economic reality facing government."

What that means for the unions, their clout and the benefits members traditionally enjoyed is open to interpretation.

State AFL-CIO President John Olsen said public sector unions, despite a bumpy 2011, remain strong in Connecticut and overall fared much better than counterparts in other states.

"They're in challenging times because of the economy," Olsen said. "(Critics) don't see their not having pensions as a problem. They see someone else who has a pension as a problem."

Williams said, "State government should be the example of what a good employer is."

But in 2011 Connecticut government wanted limits on that generosity and lost patience when employees did not agree.

"I don't want to see collective bargaining done away with. Never," said state Sen. Edith Prague, D-Columbia, a vocal proponent for the working class who backed the failed bill imposing some salary and pension limits on state workers. "But I do believe the unions have a responsibility to take a look at what's in collective bargaining."

After taking office in January and inheriting a $3 billion-plus deficit, Malloy sought $2 billion in concessions from the State Employee Bargaining Agent Coalition. He secured $1.6 billion and long-term health and retirement savings.

In return SEBAC, which failed to ratify the givebacks in June but held a do-over vote in August to avoid thousands of layoffs, got four years of job security and promised raises in years three, four and five.

Liberal activist and lobbyist Tom Swan was one of the rare Democratic voices criticizing such a large concessions package. Democratic legislators like Prague either said it was a deal SEBAC would be foolish to refuse or kept mum.

"It was good (Malloy) never scapegoated or never tried to really go on a public attack, back and forth," Swan said. And, he said, "With what's happening everywhere else in the country, the deal struck was very fair."

Though Republicans decried the concessions as a sham, DePino was far more optimistic.

"From what I've seen, they're going to continue to enjoy a generous benefit outside of what the private sector has," he said. "But it's the beginning of the turn. This is like turning around an aircraft carrier."

"I don't think we took cuts as much as we agreed to help make the system sustainable, and to me there's a very distinct difference," she said. "We didn't cut the benefit (of retiree health care). We just have put a system in place that would make it sustainable for the future. And we took pay freezes, we didn't take pay cuts. It's interesting how people view it."

The deal also empowered SEBAC and potentially all of Connecticut's public-sector unions by establishing a template for cooperation with their elected bosses.

"There are two general types of collective bargaining out there. One is where you're dividing the pie, and the other is collaborative," Mark Sullivan, labor professor with the University of Connecticut, said. "Malloy chose the second. Our friends in Wisconsin chose the first: `This is the way it's going to be, come hell or high water.' There's not such a hidden agenda. It's to neutralize the unions."

Instead, SEBAC's deal with the governor elevates the role of rank-and-file members in identifying $270 million worth of efficiencies by establishing joint technology and labor management committees with Malloy.

"It's `giveback, giveback.' Nobody's asked us how to do it more efficiently," Peterson said.

Finley said Malloy's success also established a road map for municipal leaders and state unions' local affiliates.

"We've seen municipal employees take zero-percent wage increases for a couple years to give their town or city some breathing room," Finley said. "But what the Malloy administration did was get some concession on retirement age, contribution towards retirement. I think a lot of municipal officials would like to emulate (that) at the local level."

Sullivan said, in the end, municipal officials want constituents to be pleased with the level of services, and that means being able to cooperate with their workers rather than wage war on them.

NEW WORKERS TAKE A HIT

Despite the tensions that arose between SEBAC and lawmakers, there is little doubt organized labor will continue to be an influential political force in Connecticut.

"It may even be more powerful because they've recognized what's happened these last few years," Sullivan said.

McCarthy does not like to use the term "clout," but said multiply SEBAC's 45,000 members by family members and that alone is a formidable voting block.

But DePino argues, "The taxpayer is going to be the king now, no matter how much union money goes into campaigns."

"(It is) inconceivable a Democratic-controlled Legislature would have taken away bargaining rights," he said. "It is a major blow and potentially a repositioning of state employees within the Democratic Party."

Others point to teacher unions as proof public-sector workers are still pulling the strings of government.

Gwen Samuel, who has been advocating for laws giving parents greater authority over failing schools, has been at loggerheads with the Connecticut branch of the American Federation of Teachers.

"I didn't know this type of organization existed out there that has so much control over the legislative session," she said.

The unions face internal pressures. One SEBAC member -- prosecutor Lisa Herskowitz -- has filed a labor grievance challenging the concession deal with Malloy and the August revote. A handful of bargaining units have also sought to break away from SEBAC.

There are also continued tensions between junior and senior members. Malloy's deal with SEBAC created yet a fourth class of new state employee whose benefits will not match those of the other three groups that came before.

"That happens generationally," Peterson said. "This is the fourth different retirement plan since I came into state service in 1978. This is not new at all for us."

Swan has advice for any disenchanted public-sector union members perhaps questioning the need for such protection.

"I would strongly recommend they take advantage of their good health-care benefits and go get checked out by a mental-health professional," he said.